What We Believe

The Doctrinal Statement of Morningside Baptist Church

WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD
We accept fully the writings of the entire Old and New Testament as the inspired, inerrant, and objective Word of God. We believe the Bible is the final authority in all matters of doctrine, duty, and decisions as individuals.
Psalm 119:89; II Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13

WE BELIEVE IN GOD
We believe in the only true God, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the Universe. He is eternal, loving, just, merciful, holy and unchanging. God is all powerful and all knowing. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

WE BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
Genesis 1:1; Exodus 15:1; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; John 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1: 7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Timothy 1:17; I John 5: 7

WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
That He pre-existed with God the Father before His birth in Bethlehem … that He was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of the virgin Mary … that He lived a totally sinless and perfect life … that He died on the cross for the sins of the whole world … that He was buried and supernaturally raised out of the grave and declared the victorious Son of God over sin, death, and hell … that He is presently seated at the right hand of God in the place of authority in heaven … that He is coming back to the earth soon to bodily resurrect the dead in Christ and to rapture every living believer to be carried to heaven with Him.
John 3:16; Colossians 1:17; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2:26-38; 1 Peter 2:22, 24; Romans 1:1-4; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables me to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts me of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believer, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Genesis 1:2; Job 26:13; Psalm 51:11; 139:7; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 12:28-32; John 14:16; 15:26-27; 16:7-14; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 12:3-11, 13

WE BELIEVE THAT MAN IS A SINNER
We believe that Adam, the first man, was created in the image of God and in innocence. However, by his voluntary transgression against the will and law of God, he fell into sin and incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from God. Consequently, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are in need of redemption.
Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-4

WE BELIEVE IN SALVATION
We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, that it is the free gift of God. We believe that man is saved by faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. A person must repent of his sin and by faith receive and trust the Person and provision of Jesus Christ as Lord in order to be saved. Salvation is a present reality – one can be saved and can know he is saved and can enjoy his life of salvation. All who have been truly born again will be saved forever and cannot lose their salvation. We believe that being saved is the most important experience in every individual’s life.
John 3:3-21; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9-13; 13:11-14; Hebrews 9:22; Revelation 3:20

WE BELIEVE IN HEAVEN
We believe that heaven is a real place. It is a perfect place – a place that will be populated by the saints of God from all ages. The most important thing about heaven is the presence of the Lord Himself. A person must make proper preparations to go to heaven, and that preparation is to receive Jesus Christ as one’s own Lord and Savior.
John 14:1-6; Hebrews 12:22-24; Revelation 21:10-17; 22:1-2

WE BELIEVE IN HELL
We believe that hell is a real place that was prepared for the devil and his angels, and that all of those who die outside of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity in hell. Hell is a literal place of physical, mental, spiritual, and eternal suffering. We believe that every person will spend eternity either in heaven or in hell.
Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 13:42; 25:41; Mark 9:43, 46

WE BELIEVE IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by a covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation, each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor and deacon is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ that includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Matthew 16:15-19; Acts 2:41-42; 5:11-14; Ephesians 3:21; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3

WE BELIEVE IN BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER AS CHURCH ORDINANCES
We believe that baptism by immersion is the only Scriptural mode. Baptism does not save, but it is an act of obedience to the command of Christ and is a testimony to the world of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism identifies you with Jesus Christ and with the people of God.
Romans 6:1-5; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38

We further believe that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolical ordinance which pictures Christ’s body broken for our sins and His blood shed for our redemption. We do not believe it is a saving ordinance, buy rather a symbolical one. We believe that every born again baptized believer should take the Lord’s Supper as an act of worship, praise, remembrance, and gratitude to Jesus Christ for what He has done for the sinner and as we anticipate His second coming.
1 Corinthians 11:23-29

WE BELIEVE IN GIVING
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
Leviticus 27:30-32; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21; 16:1-13; Romans 6:6-22; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 11 Corinthians 8-9; Philippians 4:10-19

LAST THINGS
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 25:31-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 17:22-37; John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:35-58; Revelation 20:1-22:13